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HANC devoted its September meeting to hearing from campaigns that it endorsed and discussing a plan of action for the November election here in District 5.

As readers of the Voice may remember HANC has devoted its last two meetings to discussions about the crucial importance of this year's ballot. In a City that has the double whammy of having the greatest income inequality of any major American city AND the highest housing costs in the nation, two measures on the ballot--Proposition G, which would raise the transfer tax on speculative real estate transactions which result in “flipping” properties after holding them for 5 years or less and Proposition J which would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2018 – will actually seek to address these huge issues.

Additionally this November has two measures aimed at making San Francisco more “child friendly.” The first, Proposition C would extend the historic “only in San Francisco” funding program for children, families and youth. The second, Proposition E would tax sweet beverages, the proceeds of which will fund new programs aimed at healthy diets for children.

Two measures address the distressing conditions of Golden Gate Park, measures H and I. Proposition H, placed on the ballot by signatures, would prohibit the installation of artificial turf and event night lighting at the western end of GGP. Proposition I was placed on the ballot by Mayor Lee And Supervisor Chiu specifically to “kill” H should it pass. But Prop I goes farther than that as it automatically approves any “renovations” to playgrounds, fields or trails that have a certified EIR, basically overriding citizen concerns.

The July 10th HANC general membership meeting was devoted to a review and evaluation of measures on the November ballot, to date.

It was a standing room only crowd, and guest speakers included Tim Redmond, Corey Cook, Conny Ford and Chelsea Boilard.

All of the measures, so far, have been placed on the ballot by either the Mayor or members of the Board of Supervisors. It was noted that if the Mayor’s issues are defeated, it might open the way for a strong candidate to run against him in his re-election campaign in 2015. The anti-speculation measure may be the most important measure of the Mayor’s popularity, and needed to slow the rampant “flip” evictions that are threatening renters.

Some observations by the speakers: Progressives need to come together and ID measures they can work on in common to educate SF voters, to impact choices on Absentee Ballots, (as much more voting is happening by mail), and to turn them out on election day. San Francisco is in danger of losing it’s soul, and this upcoming election could go a long way to saving the City we all love.

As folks may remember from the great Transit Effectiveness Program (TEP) debate , which defeated MUNI recommendations to end the Upper Ashbury Hill stops of the 6 Parnassus, changes were also proposed for the 71 Haight-Noriega line. These changes have been adopted and are now being carried out.

Called “Travel Time Reduction Proposals” (how much does MUNI pay to devise these clever program names?) the changes consist mainly of replacing stop signs with street lights, reducing or relocating stops and creating new “pedestrian bulbs” illustrated below.

The problem is that MUNI is not really increasing services by adding busses or replacing cuts in service (like restoring the 7 Haight line) from previous years but literally moving the “deck chairs” ( actually, bus stops) around, “tweaking” travel time. Indeed, MUNI seems actually disinterested in devising programs and solutions to increasing and restoring services to “transit dependent” neighborhoods such as the Haight-Ashbury which has fewer than one car per household.

Between 2009 and 2013, 78% of all Ellis Act evictions in San Francisco were in buildings that changed hands within five years or less according to Anti-Eviction Mapping Project research. The straight line relationship between speculation and evictions is clear. Proposition G protects rent controlled buildings, exempting single family homes, new construction, and very large buildings.

Proposition G is a reasonable solution to an unreasonable situation and will reduce theunjust eviction of our neighbors, friends, and families.

Golden Gate Park (GGP) is the jewel in the crown of San Francisco parks. Every effort should be made to follow the GGP Master Plan which calls for preserving quiet enjoyment of the outer lands and a natural setting.

Vote YES on Proposition H to keep well-maintained natural grass on the Beach Chalet Soccer Fields and say NO to Stadium lights 365 days a year until 10 pm.

Recreation and Parks is putting on more commercial events in GGP and other parks, often to the detriment of free use and enjoyment by San Francisco residents.

Recreation and Parks has often failed to maintain existing parks and has no dedicated funding to remove and replace artificial turf when it wears out in ten years.

Proposition I was placed on the ballot solely to override your vote on Proposition H.

HANC has been a supporter of CleanPower SF (CPSF) [aka Community Choice Aggregation(CCA)] in San Francisco since 2006. It is a program passed by the CA Legislature in 2000 under AB 117 (Migden, D-San Francisco). Its prime purpose is to stabilize and reduce electricity rates over time plus provide complete independence from PG&E on just the procuring of electricity from outside competitive sources on the open market. Currently, PG&E provides both procurement and installation/delivery/maintenance/billing/repairs (which is not affected under CPSF)

Existing CCA programs in Marin and Sonoma counties are already meeting and beating PG&E rates and benefitting residents and business. And, these rates will continue to go down.